The icy howling wind lashed at my dry skin as I pounded along the open coast. The thunderous noise matched only by the crashing storm surges and relentless pounding of my heart. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins, a series of electrical signals triggering the chemical reaction. I gasped in heavy breaths, desperately replacing the depleting oxygen.

I felt the darkness on my back even as I threw myself towards the retreating sun, it’s burning scarlet beams tinting the swirling surf the colour of blood. Shadowy tendrils were hot on my heels, snatching at my legs.

Fear drove me onwards; sweat pooling in my brow as I struggled to pull in the next ragged breath.

Sand stung my face, grazing my cheeks as I ran, blinded by the rough granules. The pain just added to my burning muscles, increasing the mismatch of terror and determination.

Tears spilt from my eyes, the rolling beads no different from the salty spray that billowed around me.

I needed to escape the writhing darkness. There was no other option. It was do or die.

I leapt from the peak of a dune, agony shooting through my ankles as I landed awkwardly barely halfway down. Terror exploded through me, tightening my chest as I realized the momentum was too much.

I fell, tumbling head over heels, broken shells slicing into my bare arms. I hissed at the sharp stinging, scrambling up urgently. Meters away monstrous waves pounded the shore, throwing up a white spray that caught in the swirling winds before cascading down upon the darkening shore.

I had run out of room, the only escape leading into the violent swells. Sharp tendrils lashed at my back, giving me no option but to keep moving.

I threw myself into the surging water, the ferocious waves threatening to pulverize me into the sand before I even entered its dangerous embrace. The salty waters soaked through my clothes, weighing me down as I waded out further and further. The scarlet water hurtled on top of me, soaking through my thin clothes and pushing me back towards the beach where the shadows waited. But I had to push on; I couldn’t let the darkness take me.

I fought harder, trying to run as well as swim, my legs pushing off the bottom as I stormed forwards.

Soon enough the sand fell away beneath me, leaving me to struggle against the swells that threatened to drown me. I had gotten past the point where the waves broke, no longer plunging down on top of me, leaving rough but open ocean. Yet my energy was fading, each stroke causing me to dip lower in the deep oceanic water as my desperate strokes got fewer and weaker.

I didn’t know how much further I could go, struggling as the sun became little more than a glimmer on the horizon, the surging sea now a deep purple. Without the sun the darkness would get me, something I simply couldn`t risk.
Fear formed as a heavy lump in my throat. I couldn’t make it. I’d known I couldn’t from the start, holding on to the hopes of the damned. The distance was too much, my body protesting the further I swam.

As though sensing that I was loosing hope the deep waters seemed to press in around me, pushing me back every time I inched forwards. It was like I was caught in a rip, yet instead of leading me out to sea the thick swirling waters dragged me back towards the gloomy darkness that waited to consume me. It pulled at my limbs, tugging me down until the freezing waters covered my skull washing over me as it filled my ears, the salty substance stinging my eyes.

‘No…’

I couldn’t let the water take me. I’d come too far to give up now. I’d escaped the darkness only to let the ocean have me. No. I wouldn’t let that happen.

I struggled harder, my lungs burning as I rushed towards the surface. I was inches from the surface, hands reaching out and just skimming the air before the waters ceased me. Everything was black, pressure from all sides. I couldn’t get up, I couldn’t escape. This was my end…

‘I can’t give up! You won’t take me! I want to live!’

 

White…

Silence…

Absolute nothingness stretching out into eternity as I found myself floating through the ivory unknown.

Then came the pain.

Agonizing currents flooded my body, twisting everything inside out. The nothing began to change, darkening to tones of grey before flooding into a raven darkness. Like I was dropped from a height throbbing pain erupted on my left side, the world around me becoming solid beneath my collapsed form.

Icy chills began to creep in, freezing my bones as I ran a hand over the coarse unyielding surface beneath me. The ground, colder than my frozen body, scraped at my skin, each movement stinging my palms.

I found I couldn’t move my lower body, numbing cold restricting any muscle movement. I tried to pry my eyes open, the lids plastered together. I managed a crack, blurrily peering at the scene around me, random flashes of red and blue making my head spin.

Sound was muffled, only my breathing echoing around me.

A sharp crunch alerted me to someone’s presence, a shining black boot appearing within my blurry vision. I blinked as I tried to bring it into focus, looking past it and seeing a wheel of a car. The rest of the metal beast lay dented and smashed, glass exploded across the dark tarmac. I felt myself frowning, trying to remember what was going on.

“They’re awake!”

The voice came from the owner of the boot, the close proximity sending my pounding head spinning. I tried to look up, but I couldn’t hold on long enough to see their face as I was dragged back down into murky unconsciousness.

 

Hannah Frankland 10G